Frequent Flyer

Chapter 16

    Corey had returned back to the hotel later than expected the night before, and had an early flight out that morning, so he didn't get as much sleep as he wanted to. But that wouldn't deter him from heading to his next destination where he was invited to a look-and-see for a new property owned by one of the hotel chains he did business with.

    Often, he would receive invites for all sorts of events taking place with different providers in the travel industry since Corey had the upper hand when it came to recommending or making decisions on travel arrangements for his clients. It was one of the perks he loved and he seldom refused to attend unless there was a conflict he couldn't work around.

    Large important events, like the one he was attending, were at the top of his list since the property would pull out all the stops. He would be offered one of the best suites and they would want him to try their 5-Star restaurants and room service. Spa treatments were a given and all would be complimentary of course. These were what added that cherry on top when it came to the positive things of the job. But one of the negative ones just came through his phone as he was boarding his plane.

    Hi Corey. Change of plans. Need to change flight. At least 2 hours after my scheduled departure. Leaving hotel at the scheduled time but the driver will need to make a stop before the airport and wait. Thanks. Jake.

    He wasn't expecting such a late change in schedule. At least not with Jake who seldom changed plans at the last minute, but he would need to deal with it quickly. He immediately called the driver to let him know of the change of plans, knowing that the flight attendants would be asking passengers to switch off their phones soon. Once he was settled in and the aircraft's wifi system was turned on, he would work on changing Jake's flight plans.

    As soon as the plane was in the air and the seatbelt sign was turned off, Corey grabbed his tablet and connected to the aircraft's wifi system. He quickly looked through his messages making sure that Jake hadn't made any additional changes and then logged on to his reservation system. He noticed that Jake was in luck because he had a 12pm flight available so he booked it right away and sent Jake a message with the new time. If it wasn't a convenient time then Jake would let him know. In the interim, he had an option that he hoped would work for him. He then sent a message to the Paris concierge and the local driver with the change of plans in order to assure that Jake was well taken care of on arrival. With that taken care of, Corey sent off an email to the hotel to confirm Jake's arrival and to make sure that his special requests had also been met. Corey would never assume that all was done without error so he made it a habit to reconfirm all special requests the day of arrival knowing that by then everything should be in order.

    As he was in the process of finishing up Jake's travel arrangements, and about to review his other clients' whereabouts and needs, a flight attendant walked by and stopped suddenly when she noticed Corey.

    "Corey! Oh my God. How are you?"

    "Cindy. Long time no see. I didn't see you when I boarded." Lie. He noticed her in the back as he took his seat in business class but because she was working economy, he had hoped she wouldn't need to come up front and notice him. It wasn't that he didn't like Cindy, it's just that she was very talkative and nosy. Loved to gossip and when she did, it travelled through the airline faster than the flight itself. And Corey enjoyed his privacy. Especially in the job he currently had and with the freedoms it came with. He didn't need someone like Cindy talking about what he was doing and where he was doing it.

    "What are you doing in these parts? Vacation?"

    "I wish. Always working hard with little rest. I'm on my way to a new property I have to check out. So boring. And you know how tedious things are when they are new and still working out all of the bugs." He had to downplay it as much as possible with Cindy because the slightest positive word on his trip and she would be on the rooftops telling the world what a luxury trip he was on. All on the company's dime.

    "I can only imagine. Must be a headache. You probably can't even enjoy it."

    "You got that right. We have a lot of reporting to do and analyzing, that by the time the day is over you have no time to enjoy the city. At least the experience gives me a good idea as to recommend the place to our clients, or not."

    Just then, and to Corey's relief he saw that she was being called over by the director on board.

    "Looks like I am being called. Well it was nice seeing you again Corey. Have a good trip and let's get together soon for drinks."

    "Would love to." With that Cindy left and Corey took a sip of his drink while he looked out the window. He always knew that having to take the airline he worked for meant that he would bump into people he knew from the airline, but it was a large enough airline, and as soon as he left his home base, chances were slim that he would know who the flight attendants were. The passenger manifest would show that he was an employee but it didn't state what he did for the airline or where he did it from.

    Corey went back to his work to finish off what he had started. The flight was a fairly short flight and he wanted to make sure that all his work was done so that he would be free the rest of the day.